Academy Awarded Category One Status (merged)

[BigGully]

The system doesn't become fair just because we have a wealthy enough owner to get on the right side of it. The Elite Performance Plan is just another scheme to make sure the rich get richer at the expense of the poor, however they like to dress it up. It's just lucky for us that we're now one of the rich.

I think you are misunderstanding the old system against the new system and its implication on the young players, including the children between the ages of 8-12 year olds.

You must look at it from the perspective of the young players and not the clubs, young players that previously were arbitrarily hoovered up by their local club were then locked into wholly restrictive registrations to that club, basically a postcode lottery.

Those young players that might at times not been accessing the skilled coaching required could not move without sanction, normally a exorbitant claim for compensation.

It meant the majority of skilled children, perhaps 9 years old were left to access understaffed and under resourced training and coaching, inevitably effecting their own development, whilst a similar skilled player that perhaps happened to born in say London were likely to access a higher level of coaching, it was wholly unfair.

It never was meant that lower clubs could look at their young players some as young as 11 years old as 'cash cows' to make a few bob, their two sessions a week wasnt necessarily the making of that individual player anyway, it is more complicated than that.

The new system means that kids can move without previous sanctions, there is compensation but it isnt as restrictive as before offering a pathway for any youngster to access the highest level of coaching on offer, no youngster should ever have that denied.

There has always been a pecking order and that still exists, but now clubs need good reason for why a young child might wish to stay at a clubs training centre, it offers up new challenges for all clubs, but ultimately it is the young players that prosper, which must be a good thing.

 

[Dougie]

Talking of training grounds- how is your new one coming along?

Well ,if youre unaware ,we bought our existing one last year so we own it not paying rent . But since then we have earmarked a new bigger sight quite close to it in beckenham which i hear is going through . The academy is based up the cp sports centre atm so that is the main reason why we havent got cat 1 ,so with the new training ground in place we can get the academy back and then re apply for cat 1 if we wish ( im sure we will ) . Well done on your new status btw , the funding i hear will again be supplied by your rich benefactor so good luck .

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Exactly. I am so conflicted by this state of affairs. I deplore the system, believing it will inevitably eventually lead to the destruction of the lower league clubs, which we have so recently been a part of ourselves. On the other hand, I'm hugely excited about the mid-term future that the Albion now has, all as a result of a well-intentioned Chairman who is a fan pouring money into the club I love.

I agree. When the system was announced, I thought it was an absolute disgrace. However, all that Tony Bloom and the club can do is play within the rules. I'm looking at it as a way of keeping our best young players (or at least getting a fairer deal for them if sold) rather than raiding other clubs for their young players.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Well ,if youre unaware ,we bought our existing one last year so we own it not paying rent . But since then we have earmarked a new bigger sight quite close to it in beckenham which i hear is going through . The academy is based up the cp sports centre atm so that is the main reason why we havent got cat 1 ,so with the new training ground in place we can get the academy back and then re apply for cat 1 if we wish ( im sure we will ) . Well done on your new status btw , the funding i hear will again be supplied by your rich benefactor so good luck .

Is that some sort of pathetic dig at us? If so, you're on pretty dodgy ground given what your team have done in the past. Remember, we came through the Withdean years without ever going into administration. Can you say the same thing about the last 20 years?

 

[Acker79]

Burke said: “Firstly we need to thank (chairman) Tony Bloom for the financial support he has provided to get us to this level.

"Tony has given the club magnificent facilities in terms of the Amex and now the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, and with his continued investment in our youth policy; he has been integral to us taking this next step.

“On a personal note I would like to thank (academy manager) John Morling and all his team who have done a fantastic job to take us from a centre of excellence in 2012, to a category one academy in 2014.”

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/alb...in_the_elite_thanks_to_coveted_academy_award/

Thought John Morling might deserve some credit on here.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Well ,if youre unaware ,we bought our existing one last year so we own it not paying rent . But since then we have earmarked a new bigger sight quite close to it in beckenham which i hear is going through . The academy is based up the cp sports centre atm so that is the main reason why we havent got cat 1 ,so with the new training ground in place we can get the academy back and then re apply for cat 1 if we wish ( im sure we will ) . Well done on your new status btw , the funding i hear will again be supplied by your rich benefactor so good luck .

You make it sound like a rich benefactor is something to be ashamed of. He is a fan, just as your four owners are fans. You have benefited from having four rich benefactors, an academy and two administrations.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I think you are misunderstanding the old system against the new system and its implication on the young players, including the children between the ages of 8-12 year olds.

You must look at it from the perspective of the young players and not the clubs, young players that previously were arbitrarily hoovered up by their local club were then locked into wholly restrictive registrations to that club, basically a postcode lottery.

Those young players that might at times not been accessing the skilled coaching required could not move without sanction, normally a exorbitant claim for compensation.

It meant the majority of skilled children, perhaps 9 years old were left to access understaffed and under resourced training and coaching, inevitably effecting their own development, whilst a similar skilled player that perhaps happened to born in say London were likely to access a higher level of coaching, it was wholly unfair.

It never was meant that lower clubs could look at their young players some as young as 11 years old as 'cash cows' to make a few bob, their two sessions a week wasnt necessarily the making of that individual player anyway, it is more complicated than that.

The new system means that kids can move without previous sanctions, there is compensation but it isnt as restrictive as before offering a pathway for any youngster to access the highest level of coaching on offer, no youngster should ever have that denied.

There has always been a pecking order and that still exists, but now clubs need good reason for why a young child might wish to stay at a clubs training centre, it offers up new challenges for all clubs, but ultimately it is the young players that prosper, which must be a good thing.

http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1158...pp-is-forcing-many-clubs-to-rethink-academies

 

[Goldstone1976]

I agree. When the system was announced, I thought it was an absolute disgrace. However, all that Tony Bloom and the club can do is play within the rules. I'm looking at it as a way of keeping our best young players (or at least getting a fairer deal for them if sold) rather than raiding other clubs for their young players.

Yes. But we both know that the club will fully utilise all the benefits of having Cat 1 status, which include poaching youth from other academies. We might (would, in both our cases) like to think that the Albion wouldn't do so, but TB hasn't invested £30m+ into the academy only to then not maximise the advantages of having attained the top status...

I'm not having a pop at TB in any way. As you say, he's playing by the rules, and kudos to him for doing so. It's the rules that are f**ked.

 

[Hillian1]

Is that some sort of pathetic dig at us? If so, you're on pretty dodgy ground given what your team have done in the past. Remember, we came through the Withdean years without ever going into administration. Can you say the same thing about the last 20 years?

Of course it's a dig at us.

Before Dave Jong UN over on BBS battened down the hatches I would quite regularly read their more special contributors on the Away End, which is all of them really, claim we are cheating without any hint of irony. When they were reminded of the 2 administrations it was always met with howls of protest that it was never the fault of CPFC but their owners.

Special doesn't even come close to describing them.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Yes. But we both know that the club will fully utilise all the benefits of having Cat 1 status, which include poaching youth from other academies. We might (would, in both our cases) like to think that the Albion wouldn't do so, but TB hasn't invested £30m+ into the academy only to then not maximise the advantages of having attained the top status...

I'm not having a pop at TB in any way. As you say, he's playing by the rules, and kudos to him for doing so. It's the rules that are f**ked.

I completely agree. We probably will poach players but we had to do it to protect our youth investment. The rules are a joke, as always designed by the Premier League to support bigger clubs. It's a sad state of affairs but more and more the way things are going.

You have to give credit to Tony Bloom though. I don't think he could do any more to ensure we have a long term future. He's built the ground, training ground, funded us getting the highest level of academy status and is now building the hotel to increase income. If the club can't be financially viable and competitive in the future, it won't be down to not trying on his part.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Well ,if youre unaware ,we bought our existing one last year so we own it not paying rent . But since then we have earmarked a new bigger sight quite close to it in beckenham which i hear is going through . The academy is based up the cp sports centre atm so that is the main reason why we havent got cat 1 ,so with the new training ground in place we can get the academy back and then re apply for cat 1 if we wish ( im sure we will ) . Well done on your new status btw , the funding i hear will again be supplied by your rich benefactor so good luck .

I think the name of our £30M academy should give you a clue as to where part of the ongoing funding will come from.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Special doesn't even come close to describing them.

We really shouldn't be mocking the afflicted but who gives a **** anyway ?

 

[spring hall convert]

Brilliant news.

I thought we had no "ambition" though.

 

[Acker79]

Just because we want someone else's kid doesn't mean we can just take them, does it? Won't they have to agree to the move? And won't there likely be other clubs vying for these prospects? If Brighton and Arsenal are both after the average kid from, say, Exeter, who do you think he is most likely to pick?

 

[Hillian1]

Just because we want someone else's kid doesn't mean we can just take them, does it? Won't they have to agree to the move? And won't there likely be other clubs vying for these prospects? If Brighton and Arsenal are both after the average kid from, say, Exeter, who do you think he is most likely to pick?

The club more likely to give them 1st team football?

 

[Acker79]

The club more likely to give them 1st team football?

Any player worth his salt should have a certain confidence that they can be the best. They won't look at themselves as the next Henri Lansbury, thinking if they signed for Arsenal they might be loaned out and end up playing in the lower divisions. They will see themselves as the next Ashley Cole, Jack Wilshire or Keiran Gibbs, if they are young, or if they are further along in their development they will likely see themselves more as Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Aaron Ramsey, Clichy, even if they aren't that confidence maybe they see themselves as a Song or a Bendtner.

Besides, they are accademy kids, they should be looking to become the best they can, not looking to see where they can get first team football before they're ready. Maybe they aren't good enough to become an Arsenal first teamer, but they are more likely to have faith that an academy that produced or finished talent like the ones listed above can bring out the best in them, than the academy that has just started and previously didn't have a strong history of producing world class talent.

 

[BigGully]

http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1158...pp-is-forcing-many-clubs-to-rethink-academies

It doesnt really challenge my point.

It is the lower league clubs moaning that they cannot cash in on kids, kids by the way that in many cases havent really been developed by the club they have signed for, probably the biggest factor is the player themselves, then closely followed by supportive parents, perhaps a PE teacher or two or a local youth team manager before you might claim that your two sessions a week on a windy astro turf was key.

Just because you hold a 10 year olds registration under the old rules shouldnt then follow that you have a right to receive exorbitant compensation fee's if that youngsters wishes to access a better standard of overall development elsewhere.

I note that in the article of Tom Eaves, Oldham received £300 000 when he was bought by Bolton at 18 years old, it was used as an example of how now under the new rules it would have been far less.

Well big deal, I noted that Eaves didnt even attend Oldhams youth set up until 15 years old, where was he before then ?

Did Oldham bother looking back to his recent history and buying a kit for his last youth team, or a bag of balls for his school team that had probably formed the player he had become before Oldhams genius coaching got to him to this level, did they heck.

The article is driven by the smaller clubs and their frustration at not receiving undeserved cheques for young talent.

I accept it will cause some difficulties for lower league youth set ups they will just have to re-think their strategies, the good ones will survive in different forms and perhaps produce youngsters for their first teams and if they do well then they can sell their 23 year old for how much they want, but just not 10 year olds anymore .......

 

[ThePompousPaladin]

Fantastic news - U21, U18 & U16 will be playing against Premier League development teams this season.

The future is bright! The future is Blue and White!

 

[Rogero]

Premier league facilities...league 1 players!

Stop moaning.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

It doesnt really challenge my point.

It is the lower league clubs moaning that they cannot cash in on kids, kids by the way that in many cases havent really been developed by the club they have signed for, probably the biggest factor is the player themselves, then closely followed by supportive parents, perhaps a PE teacher or two or a local youth team manager before you might claim that your two sessions a week on a windy astro turf was key.

Just because you hold a 10 year olds registration under the old rules shouldnt then follow that you have a right to receive exorbitant compensation fee's if that youngsters wishes to access a better standard of overall development elsewhere.

I note that in the article of Tom Eaves, Oldham received £300 000 when he was bought by Bolton at 18 years old, it was used as an example of how now under the new rules it would have been far less.

Well big deal, I noted that Eaves didnt even attend Oldhams youth set up until 15 years old, where was he before then ?

Did Oldham bother looking back to his recent history and buying a kit for his last youth team, or a bag of balls for his school team that had probably formed the player he had become before Oldhams genius coaching got to him to this level, did they heck.

The article is driven by the smaller clubs and their frustration at not receiving undeserved cheques for young talent.

I accept it will cause some difficulties for lower league youth set ups they will just have to re-think their strategies, the good ones will survive in different forms and perhaps produce youngsters for their first teams and if they do well then they can sell their 23 year old for how much they want, but just not 10 year olds anymore .......

Your claim that the new system benefits the players somewhat falls down in the cases of clubs such as Yeovil and Hereford, mentioned in the WSC piece. The limitations on what they, and other clubs, can now afford to offer surely means that youngsters in large areas of the country will find it harder to get coaching of a decent standard. Great if a player lives near a decent academy, but now even more will depend on parents driving them long distances to training. If you want to get on in football, don't be poor in Plymouth or Carlisle would appear to be the message.

And since even the resources of Premier League clubs are not infinite, good but not outstanding young players, and those who are late developers, will have fewer and fewer opportunities beyond those two sessions a week on windy astroturf.

Anyway, well done all at BHAFC who made this happen. You can only play the system you're dealt.
What about a young player growing up in the West Country who might have